Ominous signs as Jose Mourinho facing a Bridge too far

By Chris Hatherall

Football has a way of making co-incidences seem eerily like fate, whether that is strikers scoring vital goals against their former club, big-name transfers facing their ex-teammates on their debut or bitter rivals drawn together in the cup.

So, Jose Mourinho, who has already been sacked twice at Stamford Bridge, cannot be looking forward to a return to west London on October 20.

That fixture, in only two weeks’ time, is already ringed in the diaries of those betting on the next manager in the Premier League to be relieved of his duties, with Manchester United’s Mourinho odds-on with some bookmakers to win the sack race, and some even taking bets on his next club, with Inter Milan, Portugal and, strangely, Wolves top of the list.

The prospect of the Special One’s United reign coming to a humiliating end at the club where he made his name, the club that brought him to England in the first place, is a painful one; but there is a growing feeling that a poor performance at Old Trafford against bottom club Newcastle United on Saturday would leave the Portuguese in a perilous position heading back to the capital.

United have already made their worst start to a season in 29 years and Tuesday’s goalless draw against Valencia, though not disastrous in terms of Champions League qualification, was so dire that you sense the club’s patience is running out.

To their credit, United fans have kept a lid on their disquiet until now. Even against Valencia they waited until the end to boo and there were no chants against Mourinho, no sign of dissent, but as the crowds flooded out of Old Trafford and onto trams, buses and trains, the story was different.

Then, it seemed almost everyone was having the same debate on the way home: Is it time for Mourinho to go? In the heat of frustration, and with disappointment still in their bones, there were a significant number of supporters answering in the affirmative.

It’s not a scientific poll, of course, just anecdotal observation, but it didn’t look good for Jose and, if you lose the fanbase, no matter how good a manager you are, then that’s a big problem.

What is frustrating is that Mourinho has brought so much of it on himself.

He called for “respect, respect, respect” from journalists during a recent press conference and has regularly pointed to his remarkable record of winning trophies and titles, wherever he has been, to defend his tactics and decisions.

However, respect can be lost as well as earned and there’s a serious danger that the Special One’s rightful reputation as one of the best managers in the world could be permanently tainted by his continued failure to maintain relationships with key players at Old Trafford... and with his board of directors.

We’ve seen it before, of course. Those kinds of fall-outs happened at Chelsea (twice) and at Real Madrid; and now it is happening again at Old Trafford.

The list of players who appear to have fallen foul of Mourinho’s moods is a long one and includes Paul Pogba, Anthony Martial, Alexis Sanchez and even captain Antonio Valencia, who had to hurriedly apologise for mistakenly ‘liking’ a Facebook post which called for Mourinho to be sacked.

More important than that, however, is the growing frustration with United’s style of play, which has been an issue under successive managers since Alex Ferguson retired. David Moyes was seen to be too old-school and one-dimensional, while Louis van Gaal bored fans to tears with non-stop possession, most of it sideways and backwards with no end product. Now, Mourinho has put the shackles on again and, like Moyes, regularly relies on the industrial talents of Marouane Fellaini to save United when more attractive methods fail to make an impact.

There’s nothing wrong with that, in essence, but things have got so bad that United’s flair players now appear gripped by fear; and Pogba, clearly hampered by team tactics, dropped deeper and deeper against Valencia as United failed to create serious opportunities.

Martial, totally out of form and beaten down by a fall-out with his manager, is a shadow of his former self and even shining light Marcus Rashford finds himself in one week and out the next despite his obvious promise.

Sanchez looks totally lost these days, unsure of his position and lacking in both confidence and motivation amid rumours he too struggles with Mourinho’s man-management.

The Portuguese man’s comment that his team “lacked the technical skill” to carry out his tactics against Valencia was shocking. We’re not talking about a manager who has only been a couple of months in the job, he arrived at Old Trafford in May 2016. So, who is to blame for fielding a squad of players 28 months later which is still not capable of playing in the style required?

Mourinho knew when he arrived in Manchester the ethos of the club, its history of attacking football played in a thunderous atmosphere, football with pace, strength and passion. He must have known, too, that the fate of his predecessors was largely down to how they failed to live up to that tradition, so, when the Manchester Evening News greeted Tuesday’s goalless draw with a headline that read “It looks like LVG’s back at wheel as Reds stall” alarm bells must be ringing.

Call it coincidence, call it football fate, but it means Mourinho’s return to Stamford Bridge in two weeks’ time is going to be a pivotal one, for him and for United.